Dos Equis and Sid Lee are envisioning the optimism of a post-lockdown world as the beer brand moves on from its long-running platform, “The Most Interesting Man in the World.”

“A Dos of XX” is the Mexican beer brand’s new national plaform, and in “Pregame” – the first piece of creative from the campaign – people are shown getting ready for a night out on the town at a boisterous drinking establishment, almost like bears awkwardly emerging from hibernation.

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According to Kristian Manchester, ECD for Sid Lee, when the team was briefed, the Heineken-owned brand gave the Montreal shop an honest story about how it had lost its way a little bit with the “Most Interesting Man in the World” – the iconic Hemingway-esque adventurer pitchman who later became an Internet meme – and that they’d tried to put him in increasingly ridiculous scenarios to refresh the character.

“The Most Interesting Man in the World” was almost bigger than Dos Equis, Manchester says, admitting that while the campaign is one of his personal favourites, the latest effort was “purposely done to be as far away as possible [from that creative] and something more relatable and [approachable] and something that would insert themselves in the lives of consumers again.”

Manchester says the campaign’s double entendre phrase “a dose of” is something the agency believes has legs and represents an upgrade for what’s a “trade up beer,” which attracts a diverse group of slightly older men and women rather than a frat party beer demo.

More 15-second and six-second storytelling “doses” of the brand’s perspective are on the horizon, adds Manchester.

For its first creative collab with Dos Equis, Manchester says the Sid Lee team worked with its Paris and Toronto colleagues and did a creative brainstorm in Montreal, while also connecting with LA to bring the messaging and brand positioning to life. The beer brand is especially big in Texas, but also in the Southern United States, and competes against Mexican favourites like Modelo and Corona.

According to Manchester, the campaign includes a “huge” media buy – but with an ad spend similar to what the brand has done in the past – with room for on-premise when college football season resumes stateside.

The TV-lead campaign will also be brought to life across social media, digital activations, retail and out-of-home advertising on April 29.